Such electronic equipment housings are placed on fixed trays which are permanently mounted in a vehicle, for example in the cockpit of an aircraft. At the rear thereof, they include the female portion of a connector comprising a multiplicity of pins of small diameter which are therefore relatively fragile and which engage in the male portion of the connector which is permanently fixed to the rear of the tray.
Maintenance of such vehicles requires such housings to be replaced frequently, and installing or removing such housings can damage the pins of the connector.
French patent specification No. 2 229 611 describes a locking device having a central shaft fitted at one end with a hinge pin that moves in an inclined slot between two extreme positions, one of which enables the housing to be put into place (thus connecting the connector) at an acute angle providing a vertical component which presses the housing against the bottom of the tray, and the other of which is used for removing the housing, i.e. for extracting the connector parallel to the bottom of the tray.
When the hinge pin presses against one or other end of the slot, the pin is not properly held fast and as a result the housing may lift, thereby damaging the pins of the rear connector.
The object of the present invention is to hold the hinge pin firmly in place whenever the housing is being installed or removed.